Infiniti EX37 Road Test

Infiniti EX Review

Infiniti has positioned the engine slightly inboard of front axle to achieve a better centre of gravity and balance improvements.

And that's the story of the Infiniti EX37: a lot of well considered details and then something small and incongruous. Take, for instance, the powered and heated front seats. They have up to 10-way adjustment to go with the powered steering wheel adjustment, which is excellent but then the cup-holder flaps in the central armrest are made of a brittle plastic, which is not in keeping with the rest of the interior finish.

Niggles over and time for the good parts, starting with the coat-hanger. This is a well padded affair integrated into the back of the driver's headrest, which simply flips up when needed - very clever.

Another of the Infiniti EX's niceties are the powered rear seats that raise themselves back into position at the push of a button, either within the cabin or from the boot. And one of the most sensible optional extras I have seen in a while is a lipped rubber tray for the 349-litres capacity boot. Not only does it keep the carpet clean but it is perfect for dogs - they don't slip around and the hairs stay in the tray.

The Infiniti EX37 is so well equipped with the likes of automatic lights and wipers, xenon headlights, Intelligent Cruise Control with AFS directional beam, Bluetooth and a Smart Key system, the list of options is relatively small. However, and this is not the official line, one gets the impression that most sensible requests would be considered.

The Infiniti EX 37, as the name suggests, houses a 3.7-litre, V6, petrol engine. It is a superb unit that produces 320PS at 7,000rpm and 360Nm at 5,200rpm. The torque starts almost from the get-go, as demonstrated by the 0-62mph time of 6.4 seconds, before a top speed of 149mph.

The size of the engine and vital statistics doesn't bode well for the fuel economy and the official figures back that up: 17.7mpg for the urban cycle, 32.9mpg for the extra-urban and the combined is 25.0mpg with 265g/km of Co2 emissions.

Until recently, this was the only engine choice but now we also have the 3.0-litre V6 diesel. Just like the petrol-engined car, it has the twin exhaust system and is driven through a non-optional, 7-speed, automatic gearbox with sequential shift.

The diesel is said to be very quiet as it goes about its business of producing 238PS at 3,750rpm and 550 delicious, Newton metres of pulling power at just 1,750rpm.

It takes 7.9 seconds to complete the 0-62mph dash and the top speed is 137mph. The fuel economy is better than the larger petrol unit but not by much: 26.2 (u), 39.2mpg (e-u) and 33.2mpg for the combined, while emissions are measured at 224g/km.

As befits a crossover, the Infiniti EX37 has Infiniti's ATTESA - E-TS, which stands for Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All Electronic Torque Split. That mouthful translates as, on-demand AWD with the emphasis on the rear wheels until the system deems otherwise. At which point the torque is split in anything up to a 50:50, front and rear, although it is more for grip than off-roading.

Infiniti has positioned the engine slightly inboard of front axle to achieve a better centre of gravity and balance improvements. And that becomes evident on the open road, where a mixture of impressive torque, agility and generally, sporty handling will raise a smile that will last until you come to fill up the tank, which won't take long.

The Infiniti EX37 is a car of contradictions but, on balance, the scales tip in favour of this well-equipped, luxury coupe crossover.